Overview

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

An exploration of the cultural and intellectual accomplishments of a specific city that achieved prominence in a particular time period, and had substantial impact and influence on human civilization. Examines the political, social, religious, and cultural factors that help to explain a city's significance and investigates the achievements of its citizens. Students may repeat this course for further credit under a different topic. Breadth-Humanities.

COURSE DETAILS:

“Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.” When Samuel Johnson uttered this remark in the late eighteenth century, the British capital was already Europe’s chief financial centre and most populous city, its cultural and racial diversity mirroring that of Britain’s rapidly expanding global empire. Rowdy and raucous, absorbing more than 10,000 migrants annually and churning out a staggering profusion of printed books and periodicals, Johnson’s London led the world in consumerism, in artistic and technological innovation, in radical political thought, and in the advancement of scientific knowledge. “No other city on the planet,” writes one of its historians, “did more to catalyze modernity.”

Theories about the relationship between social modernity and urban space will inform much of our work in HUM 340, as we trace London’s history from Roman times to the present day, focusing on the early modern centuries that transformed a pestilential, mud-spattered medieval port into a global entrepot, an imperial metropolis, and a vast melting pot of humanity.

Our primary sources will include literary texts as well as visual images, musical compositions, and specimens of material culture. Students in HUM 340 can expect to hone their skills in the study of each of these fields.

Grading

Materials

REQUIRED READING: